MAN RECEIVES 10-YEAR SENTENCE

MATTHEW KAUFFMAN; Courant Staff WriterTHE HARTFORD COURANT

Jose Ramirez didn't plan the burglary that sent him to jail. And at least part of the time that his accomplices were looting the apartment and beating the victim, Ramirez was out in the hall, standing guard.

But in Hartford Superior Court Friday, Ramirez received a sentence more than three times as long as those to be given to his accomplices. The reason: The codefendants offered authorities what is a prized rarity these days -- testimony against a gang member in a murder case.

"If they do that, knowing that they're putting themselves in danger, then they should get a break from the court," said Judge Carmen E. Espinosa.

And they did. Although Ramirez was given a 10-year prison term Friday, two of his cohorts have been promised sentences of no longer than three years when they are sentenced next week.

Espinosa said the menace of gang violence requires the criminal justice system to offer gang members significant incentives to break ranks and cooperate with police.

Ramirez, 25, and four other reputed Los Solidos gang members burglarized a Lawrence Street apartment Nov. 28, 1993, according to police affidavits. The victim told police that one of the men held a gun to his head while others bound him with a telephone cord, court records said.

The victim, a police informant, said the intruders beat him and then piled electronic equipment into a car. Ramirez acted as a lookout and claimed he never entered the apartment -- a claim supported by one accomplice and disputed by another.

After police made arrests in the burglary, two of the suspects, Victor Alejandro, 18, and Jose Antonio Cortez, 28, testified at a preliminary hearing in a murder case against a fellow Los Solidos member.

By doing so, said Assistant State's Attorney Christopher Morano, they have received death threats.

Assistant Public Defender Yvonne Rodriguez-Schack, who represented Ramirez, said it was unfair that Ramirez should receive so much time in prison while Alejandro and Cortez receive so little.

But Espinosa said Ramirez's 10-year term was appropriate, and the deep discounts for his accomplices were necessary.

"Their lives are in jeopardy," Espinosa said. "It is so important to have gang members . . . cooperate in solving these crimes that an incentive should be given."